Jersey’s Health Department continues to overspend by around £1 million each month – but the projected year-end deficit has fallen by over a third.

Figures shared with the Health and Care Jersey Advisory Board this week showed a year-to-date overspend of £6.2 million at the end of June.

However, the full-year forecast has improved from £18.3 million earlier this year to £11.7 million.

Deputy Head of Finance Business Partnering Mark Queree told the board that this was the result of a “detailed financial review” and a series of savings and income-boosting measures.

He said £2.7 million in savings has been agreed by the executive leadership team, including increased income from private patient procedures and reductions in staffing overspends.

“The staffing position for the department has shown a noticeable improvement and is actually within the budget over the year to date,” said Mr Queree.

He added that the year-to-date underspend on staffing is just under £1 million, and the forecast full-year overspend is now only 0.3% of the overall staffing budget.

After the board raised concerns in May over a £5 million agency staff bill covering 171 workers – Mr Queree said numbers had fallen to 86 by the end of June, with work ongoing to reduce reliance on long-term locums.

“Those numbers will continue to reduce over the remaining year, which should see an improvement in that staffing position,” he said.

But while staffing costs are improving, the department’s largest financial pressures are now in non-pay areas, the board heard on Thursday morning.

These include rising costs linked to off-island referrals, mental health, social care, high-cost drugs, and increased demand for surgical consumables.

Mr Queree said: “The forecast overspend of £11.7 million is predominantly linked to non-pay overspends and income under-recovery.”

Income shortfalls also remain an issue, particularly in pathology and private surgery, where he said expected income from the Health Insurance Fund and private activity had not yet materialised.

“So the income under recovery was partly due to management actions agreed to at the beginning of the year, around generating additional income from the Health Insurance Fund and our pathology testing, which hasn’t come to fruition as yet,” he explained.

“And also the aspiration to generate additional private patient income, particularly through our theatres and day surgery unit services through delivering additional private patient procedures, and looking at the mix of public and private activity and also looking at our overall productivity within those services.”

In total, the Health Department is aiming to deliver £17.1 million in savings this year, with £4.3 million already achieved by the end of May.

A further £10.6 million in high-risk savings and recovery schemes is also being pursued.

The financial report was presented just days before a separate report from the Public Accounts Committee – which determines whether public funds have been used effectively – raised fresh concerns about Health Department spending.

The committee found that the Health Department overspent its budget by £30.7 million in 2024 and continued a five-year trend.

It warned that without “significant system transformation and greater financial controls,” overspending could persist in 2025 and worsen the government’s overall fiscal position.

PAC chair Deputy Inna Gardiner said: ” We fully understand the persistent cost pressures within the Department but, given the Minister’s recent comments in the media about needing more money, it is crucial that robust financial controls are put in place to ensure spending across Government, but particularly in health, is controlled.”

The committee called for the department’s quarterly finance dashboard to be published
 as a standalone document for scrutiny by the States Assembly and requested an improvement plan by the end of this year to explain how budget control and oversight will be strengthened.